Personal care device

ABSTRACT

A personal care device, such as an electric toothbrush, has a handle having a longitudinal axis and a treatment head connected to a carrier. The carrier extends within the handle and is mounted at the handle for pivoting motion around a pivot axis against a restoring spring force. A drive unit, such as a linear actuator, is mounted on the carrier, and at least one electrical connector is arranged between the handle and the carrier to convey electrical energy from an energy source fixedly mounted with respect to the handle to the drive unit. The electrical connector can be realized as an elastic metal sheet element having a spring constant for providing at least a part of the restoring spring force.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure is concerned with a personal care device such asan electric toothbrush that has an energy source and an electricalenergy consuming unit such as a drive unit and an electrical connectorfor connecting the energy source and the electrical energy consumingunit, where in particular the energy source and the energy consumingunit are movably mounted with respect to each other.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is generally known that the electrical connection between twoelectrical components that move relative to each other poses technicalchallenges as the electrical connection must have a certain resistanceagainst fatigue due to the repetitive relative movement of the twoelectrical components. A flexible flat cable (FFC) may be used and theconnection joints may be equipped with strain relief measures.

It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a personal caredevice that comprises an electrical connector between an energy sourceand an energy consuming device that are mounted for relative motion,where the electrical connector is particularly suited for withstandingthe stress of repetitive relative motion and further where theelectrical connector may also be suited to enable an automated assemblyof the personal care device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with one aspect, a personal care device, in particular anelectric toothbrush, is provided that has a handle that can be graspedby a user's hand, the handle having a longitudinal axis, a treatmenthead that is connected with a carrier, which carrier extends within thehandle and is mounted at the handle for pivoting motion around a pivotaxis against a restoring spring force, an electrical energy consumingunit, in particular a drive unit such as a linear actuator, mounted onthe carrier, and at least one electrical connector arranged between thehandle and the carrier to convey electrical energy from an energy sourcefixedly mounted with respect to the handle to the electrical energyconsuming unit, wherein the electrical connector is realized as anelastic metal sheet element having a spring constant for providing atleast a part of the restoring spring force.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure will be further elucidated by a detaileddescription of example embodiments and with reference to figures. In thefigures

FIG. 1 is a depiction of an example personal care device;

FIG. 2 is a schematic depiction of an example embodiment of a personalcare device in accordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 3A-3D are different views of an example embodiment of an electricalconnector;

FIG. 4A is a depiction of an example electrical connector in an unloadedassembly state prior to being fully connected;

FIG. 4B is a depiction of a later assembly state of the connectorelement shown in FIG. 4A, in which the electrical connector is in thefinal position; and

FIG. is a top view onto a connector element and the electrical connectorwhen they are in the final spatial position prior to connecting theelectrical connector with the connector element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the context of the present description “personal care” shall mean thenurture (or care) of the skin and of its adnexa (i.e. hairs and nails)and of the teeth and the oral cavity (including the tongue, the gumsetc.), where the aim is on the one hand the prevention of illnesses andthe maintenance and strengthening of health (“care”) and on the otherhand the cosmetic treatment and improvement of the appearance of theskin and its adnexa. It shall include the maintenance and strengtheningof wellbeing. This includes skin care, hair care, and oral care as wellas nail care. This further includes other grooming activities such asbeard care, shaving, and depilation. A “personal care device” thus meansany device for performing such nurturing or grooming activity, e.g.(cosmetic) skin treatment devices such as skin massage devices or skinbrushes; wet razors; electric shavers or trimmers; electric epilators;and oral care devices such as manual or electric toothbrushes,(electric) flossers, (electric) irrigators, (electric) tongue cleaners,or (electric) gum massagers. This shall not exclude that the proposedpersonal care system may have a more pronounced benefit in one orseveral of these nurturing or device areas than in one or several otherof these areas. In the below description with reference to the figures,an electric toothbrush was chosen to present details of the proposedpersonal care device. To the extent in which the details are notparticular to an electric toothbrush, the proposed technology can beused in any other personal care device.

A personal care device in accordance with the present disclosurecomprises an energy consuming unit that is mounted for pivoting motionrelative to a handle of the personal care device. The personal caredevice comprises a carrier on which the energy consuming unit ismounted, and the carrier is mounted for said motion relative to thehandle, in particular a pivoting motion around a pivot axis. The carriermay extend within the handle, but a portion of the carrier or a partthat is essentially non-movably connected with the carrier may extendoutside of the inner cavity of the handle (this outside extending partmay be a treatment head of the personal care device). The handle of thepersonal care device may have a longitudinal axis and the pivot axis maythen be arranged to be about perpendicular to the longitudinal axis ofthe handle. An energy source is fixedly mounted at or with respect tothe handle. Here, “fixedly mounted” shall mean that the fixedly mountedobject cannot move relative to the handle, which includes that theobject (here: the energy source) may be mounted on a mounting structurethat in an assembly process is inserted into the inner cavity of thehandle so that the mounting structure becomes secured at the handle. Thecarrier may be connected with a treatment head of the personal caredevice, where the treatment head may be arranged to be detachable, inparticular repeatedly detachable and again attachable, but essentiallynot movable with respect to the carrier during use of the personal caredevice. The carrier may be arranged for pivoting motion around the pivotaxis when a force is applied at the treatment head that has a forcecomponent that creates a torque with respect to the pivot axis. In someembodiments, the energy consuming unit is a drive unit for driving atleast a portion of the treatment head into motion. The drive unit mayhave a drive shaft to which at least a portion of the treatment head isconnected. The drive unit may comprise a DC motor or a resonant actuator(i.e. a resonant spring-mass type of motor that provides at least one ofa linear or rotational oscillation motion via the drive shaft).

In order to electrically connect the energy source and the energyconsuming unit, at least one electrical connector is arranged betweenthe handle and the carrier for transferring electrical energy from theenergy source to the energy consuming device. While the number ofelectrical connectors in accordance with the present disclosure is notlimited, in some embodiments two such electrical connectors are utilizedto establish one closed electronic circuit. The electrical connector isrealized as an elastic metal sheet element that has a spring constantand which elastic metal sheet element gets in particular compressed whenthe carrier moves out of its rest position with respect to the handle sothat the elastic metal sheet element provides a restoring spring forcein accordance with its spring constant and the compression distance. Thepersonal care device may comprise a mechanical stopper element to definethe rest position of the carrier when no external force acts on thetreatment head that leads to a pivoting motion. The elastic metal sheetelement may in particular provide a biasing or pre-load force when thecarrier is in its rest position, which biasing force needs to beovercome by the external force before the carrier starts to pivot.

The elastic metal sheet element may take a specific form. In someembodiments, the elastic metal sheet element has a first essentiallyhorizontal arm and a second essentially horizontal arm, which horizontalarms are connected by a transverse arm so that an essentially Z-shaped(or S-shaped) structure results. The horizontal arms may be equippedwith structures that support an automated assembly. E.g. the first orsecond horizontal arm may comprise at least one vertically extendingprojection that extends through a slot in a connector element and iscoupled there to conductive areas by means of a soldered connection. Theconnector element may in particular be a printed circuit board (PCB).The slot may be open at one side to allow that the projection and theslot are moved relatively to each other in an assembly process such thatthe projection enters the slot via its open end in an assembly process.The open end of the slot may be chamfered so that a potential offsetbetween slot and projection is balanced out. E.g. the first or secondhorizontal arm may comprise at least one vertically extending projectionthat abuts a side of a connector element. E.g. the first or secondhorizontal arm may comprise at least one cut-out through which a holderelement (e.g. a holder finger) from a connector element extends. E.g. inan assembly process, the cut-out and the holder element may be movedrelative to each other so that the holder element at the end extendsthrough the cut-out. In case the holder element is made from plastic,the protruding portion of the holder element may be plastically deformedto fixedly keep the elastic metal sheet element in place. A solderedconnection joint may be realized at least on one of the two horizontalarms, e.g. with a conducting area on the connector element or with aconducting wire. A cut-out may be provided at least at one of the twohorizontal arms. The processes of plastically deforming a plastic holderelement and of establishing a soldered connection are susceptible forautomation.

As has been explained, the horizontal arms of the elastic metal sheetelement may serve for positioning and holding purposes and thetransverse arm may then provide the spring function.

The elastic metal sheet element may be made from CuNi3Si1Mg material,which is commercially available, e.g., as Wieland-K55 from companyWieland-Werke AG, Ulm, Germany. This material provides on the one handgood electrical conductivity and on the other hand has good mechanicalproperties to serve as elastic element (i.e. spring element). This isjust one example of suitable materials.

The personal care device may comprise at least one further springelement (i.e. a further spring element other than the elastic metalsheet element(s)), in particular two spring elements, that are arrangedbetween the handle and the carrier and which at least one spring elementprovides a restoring spring force between the carrier and the handlewhen the carrier is pivoted out of its rest position. This at least onespring element may be specified such that the total restoring springforce between the carrier and the handle is mainly provided by the atleast one spring element. E.g. the at least one spring element mayprovide more than about 50% of the total restoring spring force, inparticular it may provide more than about 66% of the total restoringspring force, further in particular it may provide more than about 80%of the total restoring spring force, and even further in particular itmay provide more than about 90% of the total restoring spring force. Theat least one spring element may be designed for high precision and lowmanufacturing tolerances, e.g. the spring element may be designed as arectangular bar element made from spring steel. Manufacturing tolerancesof the elastic metal sheet element may thus be compensated to someextent.

It had been mentioned that the elastic metal sheet element provides abiasing or pre-load force in the rest state of the carrier. This biasingforce may be in the range of between 0.1 N to 0.6 N, in particular inthe range of between 0.2 N and 0.5 N and further in particular in therange of between 0.3 N and 0.4 N.

The elastic metal sheet element may be made from a metal sheet that hasa thickness in the range of between 0.1 mm to 0.2 mm, in particular inthe range of between 0.125 mm to 0.175 mm and further in particular ofabout 0.15 mm.

The spring constant of the elastic metal sheet element may be in therange of between 0.1 N/mm to 0.55 N/mm, in particular in the range ofbetween 0.2 N/mm and 0.45 N/mm and further in particular of about 0.32N/mm.

FIG. 1 is a depiction of an example personal care device 1 realized asan electric toothbrush. The personal care device 1 has a handle 20 and atreatment head 10 here realized as a brush head. The treatment head 10may be replaceable (i.e. repeatedly detachable and again attachable andin particular exchangeable with a new or different treatment head forhygienic reasons or for reasons of providing a different treatment). Thetreatment head 10 may have a functional head 11 (here: bristle carrier)that is arranged for being driven into motion, in particular by a driveunit disposed in an inner cavity of the handle 20. The treatment headmay have a housing 12 for connecting the treatment head 10 with acarrier that extends in the hollow handle 20. In other embodiments, thetreatment head 10 does not comprise an independently movable functionalhead and the treatment head 10 is entirely driven into a motion, whichshall not exclude that the treatment head 10 is driven into one motion,while the functional head 11 is driven into another motion.

FIG. 2 is a schematic depiction of an example structural arrangement ofa personal care device 1A in accordance with the present description.The personal care device 1A comprises a treatment head 10A, a handle 20Ahaving a handle housing 21A, a carrier 30A, a mounting structure 40A, anenergy consuming unit 50A, here realized as a drive unit, an energysource 60A, and an electrical connector 100A. The treatment head 10Acomprises a functional head 11A and a housing 12A, which housing iscoupled with an adaptor element 31A that is fixedly connected with thecarrier 30A (the adaptor element 31A may also be integral with thecarrier 30A). The fixed connection of the treatment head 10A shall notexclude that the treatment head 10A can be detached from the adaptorelement 31A. The carrier 30A is pivotably mounted at the mountingstructure 40A so that the carrier 30A can pivot around a pivot axis Prelative to the mounting structure 40A when an external force F isapplied at the treatment head 10A that is essentially non-movablymounted at the carrier 30A, which treatment force F generates a torquewith respect to the pivot axis P. The mounting structure 40A is fixedlysecured at the handle housing 21A, e.g. by means of snap connections211A, 212A or the like (e.g. clamping may be an alternative) so that themounting structure 40A can essentially not move relative to the handlehousing 21A and one may consider the handle housing 21A and the mountingstructure 40A to be one single element. A connector element 41A is partof the mounting structure 40A or is mounted at the mounting structure40A. This shall not exclude that the carrier 40A is itself the connectorelement. Here, the connector element 41A is a PCB that is fixedlymounted at the mounting structure 40A. Further, the energy source 60A,e.g. a battery or an accumulator, is mounted at the mounting structure40A as well. The electrical connector 100A is realized as an elasticmetal sheet element (i.e. as an electric current conducting springelement) that has a spring constant that provides a restoring springforce once the carrier 30A pivots out of its rest position with respectto the handle 20A (i.e. with respect to the mounting structure 40A)around the pivot axis P. The electrical connector 100A has on one end aprojection 101A that is conductively coupled with a conductive area onthe connector element 41A by means of a soldered connection 411A. On theother end, the electrical connector 100A is connected with a connectorelement 80A by means of a projection 801A. The connector element 80A maybe a coil bobbin that carries a coil of a drive unit. The connectorelement 80A is fixedly connected with the carrier 30A. It shall not beexcluded that the connector element on carrier-side is realized by thecarrier 30A itself. The projection 801A may be conductive and mayestablish a conducting connection with the coil (i.e. the energyconsuming unit 50A). But the electrical connector 100A may beconductively connected with the energy consuming unit 50A in anothermanner, e.g. a conductive wire may be wound around the lower horizontalarm of the electrical connector 100A and/or the wire may be soldered atthe electrical connector 100A. A further electrical connector may bearranged between carrier 30A and mounting structure 40A to complete aconductive circuit between energy source 60A and energy consuming unit50A.

In the shown example, a spring element 70A extends between the carrier30A and the mounting structure 40A, which spring element 70A has aspring constant and provides a restoring spring force that adds to therestoring spring force that is applied by the electrical connector 100Aso that a total restoring spring force results. The spring element 70Ais here fixed in a pivot bearing 314A on the side of the carrier 30A andby clamping elements 401A on the side of the mounting structure 40A.

A mechanical stopper element 213A may be provided at the handle 20A todefine a rest position of the carrier 30A in the unloaded state.

FIGS. 3A to 3D are various views onto an example electrical connector200 in accordance with the present disclosure. FIG. 3A is a perspectiveview of the electrical connector 200, FIG. 3B is a side view, FIG. 3C isa top view and FIG. 3D is a front view.

The electrical connector 200 is made from a metal sheet that was cut andbent into the shape as shown. The elastic metal sheet element (i.e. theelectrical connector) 200 has generally a Z- or S-shape (depending onthe viewing direction). FIGS. 3A to 3D show the elastic metal sheetelement 200 in the shape it may take in the assembled state when thecarrier is in its rest position. In this rest position, the elasticmetal sheet element 200 has a first horizontal arm 210, a secondhorizontal arm 220 and a transverse arm 230 connecting the twohorizontal arms 210, 220. The transverse arm 230 is connected to thehorizontal arms 210 and 220 by means of about 180 degrees curvedsections 240 and 250. The curvature of the curved sections 240, 250 isessentially circular. The radius R1 of the first curved section 240connecting the first horizontal arm 210 and the transverse arm 230 islarger than the radius R2 of the second curved section 250 that connectsthe transverse arm 230 and the second horizontal arm 220. The radii R1and R2 are different for reasons that will be explained further below.The first horizontal arm 210 comprises a projection 211 that extendsvertically upwards from the first horizontal arm 210. The secondhorizontal arm 220 comprises a cut-out 221 and a recessed portion 222.These auxiliary structures of the elastic metal sheet element 200,namely the projection 211, the cut-out 221 and the recessed portion 222are just exemplary and other auxiliary structures can be used by askilled person for the purposes of positioning and connecting theelastic metal sheet element 200 with respective connector elements. E.g.instead of or additionally to the recessed portion 222, the secondhorizontal arm 220 may comprise one or several projections that mayextend vertically downwards from the second horizontal arm 220. Thesecond horizontal arm has a length L2 so that in a top view, a portion225 of the second horizontal arm 220 is not covered by the firsthorizontal arm 210 or the transverse arm 230. The cut-out 221 isdisposed in this uncovered portion 225. This allows that the cut-out 221is relatively freely accessible.

In the following, example geometrical values are provided for theelastic metal sheet element 200:

-   -   length L1 of the first horizontal arm: 5.25 mm    -   length L2 of the second horizontal arm: 15.1 mm    -   length L3 of the transverse arm: 8.5 mm    -   radius R1 of the first curved section: 0.85 mm    -   radius R2 of the second curved section: 0.55 mm    -   thickness d of the metal sheet: 0.15 mm    -   width w3 of the transverse arm: 1.79 mm.

FIG. 4A shows an intermediate state of an elastic metal sheet element200B that is already placed on a connector element 320B, which connectorelement 320B is here a portion of a plastic holder (i.e. bobbin) for acoil of a drive unit. FIG. 4A shows the elastic metal sheet element 200Bin the specified shape, i.e. in an unloaded state. The metal sheet,after having been stamped (or laser-cut) into the correct flat shape, isplastically deformed by respective bending and pressing machines thatstrain the metal sheet beyond its elastic limit so that the elasticmetal sheet element 200B takes its specified shape instead of movingback into the flat shape. FIG. 4B shows the elastic metal sheet element200B in the shape it takes once the connector element 310B (here: a PCB)is mounted in its final position at the mounting structure (by moving itfirst down in accordance with arrows M1 and then moving it sideward inaccordance with arrow M2 in FIG. 4B). It can be seen that the elasticmetal sheet element 200B has two projections 223B and 224B that extendvertically downwards from the second horizontal arm 220B. A holdingelement 321B extends through a cut-out in the second horizontal arm220B. A projection 322B of the connector element 320B abuts a recessedportion of the second horizontal arm 220B. The auxiliary structures ofthe elastic metal sheet element 200B and of the connector element 320Bserve to enable precise automated positioning of the elastic metal sheetelement 200B on the connector element 320B. While this is not shown, thesecond horizontal arm may be soldered to a contact element to establisha conducting connection with the energy consuming unit (which here isthe coil of a drive unit).

It becomes clear from FIG. 4B that the elastic metal sheet element 200Bbecomes compressed and hence provides a pre-stress force (or: pre-load)between the carrier and the mounting structure. The specified shape ofthe elastic metal sheet element 200B is chosen so that despitemanufacturing tolerances the elastic metal sheet element always needs tobe compressed. Once in the compressed state, the upwards extendingprojection 211B gets caught by an open slot in the connector element310B when the connector element 310B is horizontally moved towards theprojection 211B and thus the projection 211B automatically aligns withthis slot in the assembly process. Due to the pre-load, the projection211B extends beyond the top surface of the connector element 310B in adefined manner so that an automated soldering of the projection 211B tothe connector element 310B is enabled. The elastic metal sheet element200B has a specified shape. Due to the kind of manufacturing process,the specified shape is only achieved within a certain tolerance range.

FIG. 5 is a top view onto a portion of the connector element 310B andthe first horizontal arm 210B of the electrical connector 200B. Thesetwo objects are shown in their final spatial relationship, i.e. when theconnector element 310B was already moved in the direction of arrow M2.While this is not shown in FIG. 5 , the horizontal movement of theconnector element 310B in direction M2 also serves to couple theconnector element 310B with the mounting structure so that it becomesfixedly secured at the mounting structure. The projection 211B of theelectrical connector 200B now is positioned in a slot 311B of theconnector element 310B, where the slot 311B is formed by a lateralfinger 312B. The slot 311B is open on one side (here the left side withrespect to the regular paper orientation). The open side compriseschamfers 313B that support guiding the projection 211B into the slotwhen the connector element 310B is moved in direction M2. In a nextmanufacturing step, the projection 211B may be soldered to a conductivearea 314B provided on the connector element 314B. The conductive area314B is conductively coupled with the energy source. This shall notexclude that other means of conductively connecting the electricalconnector may be used, e.g. a conductive wire that is wound around aportion of the electrical connector.

The dimensions and values disclosed herein are not to be understood asbeing strictly limited to the exact numerical values recited. Instead,unless otherwise specified, each such dimension is intended to mean boththe recited value and a functionally equivalent range surrounding thatvalue. For example, a dimension disclosed as “40 mm” is intended to mean“about 40 mm.”

Every document cited herein, including any cross referenced or relatedpatent or application and any patent application or patent to which thisapplication claims priority or benefit thereof, is hereby incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety unless expressly excluded orotherwise limited. The citation of any document is not an admission thatit is prior art with respect to any invention disclosed or claimedherein or that it alone, or in any combination with any other referenceor references, teaches, suggests or discloses any such invention.Further, to the extent that any meaning or definition of a term in thisdocument conflicts with any meaning or definition of the same term in adocument incorporated by reference, the meaning or definition assignedto that term in this document shall govern.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have beenillustrated and described, it would be obvious to those skilled in theart that various other changes and modifications can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is thereforeintended to cover in the appended claims all such changes andmodifications that are within the scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A personal-care device comprising: a handlehaving a longitudinal axis; a treatment head connected to a carrier andmounted at the handle for pivoting motion around a pivot axis against arestoring spring force; a drive unit mounted on the carrier; at leastone electrical connector arranged between the handle and the carrier toconvey electrical energy from an energy source fixedly mounted in thehandle to the drive unit; wherein the electrical connector comprises atleast a first spring element formed by a metal sheet and configured tohave a S-shaped or Z-shaped profile to elastically apply a spring forceduring the pivoting motion, wherein the metal sheet has at least a firstarm, a second arm, and a transverse arm interconnecting the first armand the second arm, each of the arms being formed by a generally flatportion of the metal sheet, wherein the first arm is orientedsubstantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the handle, andwherein the pivot axis extends substantially perpendicular to thelongitudinal axis of the handle and is located intermediate the firstspring element and the treatment head.
 2. The personal-care device ofclaim 1, wherein the second arm has a cut-out through which a plasticconnector finger extends and that is plastically deformed and holds thesecond arm in place.
 3. The personal-care device of claim 1, wherein thefirst spring element is pre-loaded in a rest position of the carrier,wherein the pre-load force is between 0.1 N and 0.6 N.
 4. Thepersonal-care device of claim 1, wherein the first spring element has aprojection extending from the first arm and electrically connected to acontact area of a contact element on one of the carrier or the handle.5. The personal-care device of claim 4, wherein the projection isdisposed in a slot of the contact element, wherein the slot extendsperpendicular to the extension direction of the projection and has oneopen side.
 6. The personal-care device of claim 5, wherein the slot ischamfered at the open side.
 7. The personal-care device of claim 1,wherein the metal sheet has a thickness of between 0.1 mm and 0.2 mm. 8.The personal-care device of claim 1, wherein the first spring elementhas a spring constant of from 0.1 N/mm to 0.55 N/mm for providing atleast a part of the restoring spring force.
 9. The personal-care deviceof claim 8, wherein the spring constant is from 0.2 N/mm to 0.45 N/mm.10. The personal-care device of claim 1, wherein each of the first armand the second arm connects the first spring element with a respectivecontact element, and the transverse arm provides a spring function alongan active length of the spring element, wherein the active length isfrom 5 mm to 15 mm.
 11. The personal-care device of claim 10, whereinthe active length is about 8.5 mm.
 12. The personal-care device of claim1, wherein the transverse arm has a width of from 1 mm to 5 mm.
 13. Thepersonal-care device of claim 1, wherein the device comprises amechanical stopper to define a rest position of the carrier with respectto the handle.
 14. The personal-care device of claim 1, wherein thedevice includes at least one second spring element comprising arectangular bar and located between the handle and the carrier toprovide a restoring spring force to the carrier when the carrier ispivoted out of its rest position.
 15. The personal-care device of claim1, wherein the at least one second spring element is structured andconfigured to provide more than about 50% of the total restoring springforce.
 16. The personal-care device of claim 1, wherein the at least onesecond spring element comprises two second spring elements.
 17. Anelectric toothbrush comprising: a handle having a longitudinal axis; abrush head connected to a carrier and mounted at the handle for pivotingmotion around a pivot axis against a restoring spring force; a driveunit mounted on the carrier; at least one electrical connector arrangedbetween the handle and the carrier to convey electrical energy from abattery fixedly mounted in the handle; wherein the electrical connectorcomprises at least a first spring element formed by a metal sheet andconfigured to have a S-shaped or Z-shaped profile to elastically apply aspring force during the pivoting motion, wherein the first springelement has a first arm, a second arm, and a transverse arminterconnecting the first arm and the second arm, each of the arms beingformed by a generally flat portion of the metal sheet, wherein the firstarm is oriented substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of thehandle, and wherein the pivot axis extends substantially perpendicularto the longitudinal axis of the handle and is located intermediate thefirst spring element and the brush head.
 18. The electric toothbrush ofclaim 17, wherein the device comprises at least one second springelement comprising a rectangular bar and located between the handle andthe carrier to provide a restoring spring force to the carrier when thecarrier is pivoted out of its rest position.
 19. The electric toothbrushof claim 18, wherein the at least one second spring element isstructured and configured to provide more than about 50% of the totalrestoring spring force.
 20. The electric toothbrush of claim 18, whereinthe at least one second spring element comprises two second springelements.